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Track Fever
Track Fever is the 22nd episode. It aired on October 14, 2019. Plot Highway hypnosis is a mental state where drivers lose awareness from staring at the white lines too long. It would turn out that this doesn't just happen on the roads. One day, Josiah arrives at Highland Valley and strikes up a conversation with Nicholas. Later, Josiah has to take 203 to Atlanta, unfortunately working with a chatterbox. All the way down, the Dash 9 talks about meaningless topics, eventually causing Josiah to zone out and stare at the tracks. He is awaken by another passing train. The next day, they arrive in Atlanta before Jordan does. When Jordan finds out what happened with Josiah, he explains that he had a similar experience in 1992 when an NS SD40 was talking nonstop. Jordan soon leaves to prepare for his next assignment, but not without teasing the engines. Over the next few days, NS 9959 is amused by Josiah's hypnosis and blabbers about it to other engines he comes across. After Josiah returns to Highland Valley after his time in the south, he talks with Shawn and Lily about it and how he never thought much about the "track fever". Mr. Edwards chimes in and explains how he deals with white line fevers, and his and a friend's experiences. Two nights later, NS 9959 gets paired with Jared on 16T. As usual, 9959 is still talking gibberish, which causes Jared to stare at the tracks before he gets his concentration back. Into the next day, Jared gradually grows sick of 9959. The last straw comes at Conway when Jared bumps his train out of anger. Nicholas is there too, and understands how annoying 9959 is acting. Nicholas has to leave to take his local. When Nicholas gets to Highland Valley after setting off most of his train in the main yard, he heads up the mountain and meets up with Benjamin. Ben has also heard about Josiah getting the track fever, and mentions that Mike had a similar thing happen to him in 1974, which caused him to pass a red signal. Meanwhile, Josiah tells Lilim about the other night. The engines talk a little bit more about keeping themselves engaged. That night as Josiah and Shawn take 21T, they do their best to keep Josiah awake and alert. A few days later, they hear from Kaleb that 9959 was drinking too much Red Bull, so Josiah thinks he could work well with some of the railroad-obsessed engines. It's arranged for 9959 to work with Eddie, Fred, Mike, and Ty. As usual, 9959 continues rambling, which angers the other engines, even resulting in Ty taking 9959 to Juniata Shops. After a quick inspection, it turns out that 9959 had too much Red Bull to drink. 9959 promises not to drink too much again. Another day, 9959 is leading an intermodal toward Chicago with Theseus and Momoka. The three engines have a meaningful conversation during their run, until 9959 runs out of things to talk about. 9959 starts talking about his primer scheme, reverting back to his chatterbox self, while Theseus and Momoka decide to simple ignore him. Characters * Josiah * Nicholas * Will * Shawn * Lily * Lilim * Jordan * Kerry * Kaleb * Mindy * Jaden * Benson * Mr. Edwards * Cameron * Kara * Jared * Mr. Long * Dave * Daisy * Benjamin * Mike * Michael * Eddie * Mitchell * Fred * Woody * Holmes * Ty * Kaiba * Theseus * Momoka * Timothy (cameo) * Dakota (cameo) * Eddy (cameo) * NS C44-9W #9959 (not named) * NS SD70 #2573 (not named) * NS SD40 #3269 (not named) * CSX ES44AH #919 (not named) * SP SD35 #6909 (not named) * SP SD40T-2 #8305 (not named) * Josiah's conductor (not shown) * NS worker (not shown) * Larry (mentioned) * Mr. Shibley (mentioned) Locations * Highland Valley * NS B Line * Inman Yard * Tidewater * Pittsburgh * Conway Yard * NS Christianburg District * Richmond * NS Pittsburgh Line * Altoona * NS Chicago Line * CSX A Line * Clovis Sub * City and Country * Marias Pass * Industrial Wasteland * Roanoke (mentioned) Trivia * This episode marks the first of a few things: ** First time a new intro style is used. *** The style used for talking train images also changes. ** First time a foreign locomotive makes a physical appearance in Rails of Highland Valley. ** First time Lilim and Michael are featured with their new numbers. ** Elizabeth Adkins and SoCal Rail Productions join the cast. ** It is revealed that Mr. Long assigns 250 word essays for engines who misbehave. ** Mitchell, Holmes, and Ty's first speaking roles. ** Only episode to date to have almost as much focus on road vehicles as trains. * The tanker train passing Highland Valley in the beginning with CN power is based on a K898 the creator caught in downtown Richmond, VA in February 2019. * NS #9959 makes references to Full Metal Jacket, Toy Story, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, Dukes of Hazzard, Smokey and the Bandit, Romeo and Juliet, To Kill a Mockingbird, and The Od''yssey. * The route Mr. Edwards mentioned for driving from Pittsburgh to Richmond is precisely how the creator gets home from Pittsburgh. The route is backwards when going to Pittsburgh. * When Jared says "No more caffeine for you", it is a ''Lilo and Stitch ''reference. * The train Nicholas passes with a GP40-2 leader is based on one of the trains the creator caught in Roanoke in March 2019. * Nicholas makes references to ''Car 54, Where Are You?, The Munsters, McHale's Navy, The Andy Griffith Show, and Mister Ed. * SP SD35 #6909 mentions his brief appearance in Duel. * Kerry's appearances makes a slight reference to the previous episode. * NS 9959's Red Bull consumption could be a ''Family Guy re''ference. * When 9959 asks if Daylights only work during the day, it references the ''TUGS ''episode "Sunshine". * Stock footage from some of the creator's Trainz music videos, a Trainz comedy, one of his railfanning videos, and a non-canon short is used. Goofs * Some night shots are pixelated. * The ICE-2 consist is inaccurate. * NS 9959 refers to Ronald Lee Ermey as "Ronald Lee Emery". * Shawn pronounces "scenario" wrong. * Some of Benthetrainkid's lines are muffled. * When Nicholas picks up some tank cars at Ritterton, he exceeds coupling speed. * Mr. Edwards says "The first three cars are for the grain silo on the mountain branch", instead of "The first three hoppers are for the grain silo on the mountain branch". The first three cars on Nicholas' train are boxcars, and the hoppers are further back. * During one Altoona scene, one of Lilim and Michael's B units is shown with its old number. * Because of stock footage, junction overlays are shown in one scene. * Norfolk Sou 7213 Ex Conrail 4123's name is mispelled as Norfolk Sou 7212 Ex Conrail 4123 in the credits. ** In addition, Railroad,Preserver,2000's name is mispelled as Railroad,Presever,2000. * The first clip in the end credits cuts off for a brief second, and plays again. Episode Category:Episodes Category:Episodes not split into parts Category:Josiah-themed episodes Category:Season 4